Download Paths to Enlightenment

Paths to Enlightenment
By the Buddhist, the Jew, and the
Christian
• There are an amazing 20
plus different major
languages existing in India
today.
• There is a plethora of
cultures and religions
including: Buddhism,
Hinduism, Taoism, Islam,
etc.
India and Pakistan
Indus Civilization
Mohenjo-daro
Robed Male Figure at
Mohenjo-daro
The artist used a local
stone, which makes sense if
you will, which is called
steatite. Steatite is a soft
soapstone that is easy to
carve and manipulate.
Scholars compare this
statuette to Sumerian
sculpture because of the
characteristic trefoil motif that
denotes priest-kingship.
2000-1900 BCE
Seal with seated Figure
These seals are similar
to the stamp seals found
in Mesopotamia.
Used for securing
trade goods wrapped in
textiles.
2600-1900 BCE
On the back is a
boss with a hole
permitting the insertion
of a string so that the
seal can be worn or hung
on a wall.
Each animal is
portrayed in strict profile,
as we have seen only too
many times
• “Dharma was decided to be the name for the
“The Way of Truth”
Buddha’s teachings, the Four Noble Truths and the
Eightfold Path, or the path.
Buddhism
• Those on
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this path would be called “Sangha.”
And Siddhartha would become known as “The
Buddha,” the one who shows others the path in
the world.
The Dharma
• The Middle Way is almost self-explanatory. It
was a realization of
Karma
• Buddha; The Buddha realized that we all meet
of Extremism, but that we should listen to
The Middle Way forms
both sides and choose a harmonious middle road.
• Karma, in short, is: “What goes around, comes
Nirvana
around.”
• Nirvana is supreme enlightenment and is attained
The Buddha
through meditation of the world around one’s self.
• Buddha, derived from the Sanskrit root budh, to
The Sangha
awaken, is a title, not a name; like King, or
Christ. As such, it means Awakened One
Awakened.
The Irrelevance ofSupremely
God
• When asked about God, Heaven, and the
immortality of the soul, the Buddha simply remained
silent, because these theoretical matters didn’t affect
his teachings. Buddhism isn’t about belief, but
rather firsthand experience.
Maurya Dynasty
This one guy named Ashoka, the
greatest Maurya ruler, made a bunch of
columns with a legal code based on the
Buddha’s dharma on them.
The pillars were thirty or forty feet tall.
They were lined along pilgrimage
routes. They were rooted deep in the
ground connecting sky and earth –
which was a pre-Buddhist concept
called “axis of the universe.”
The finest of these capitols is the Lion
Capitol at Sarnath where Buddha gave
his first sermon and set the wheel of
law in motion. Stylistically, it can be
compared to Persepolis.
Shunga,
Andhra, and
Kushan
Dynasties
Latin Vocabulary
• Circum – around
• Ambulat – walk
• Circumambulation – walk around
- more specifically, in context, to walk
around the perimeter of a stupa [the great
stupa] in a clockwise direction in a
reverential act [towards Buddha].
Great Stupa at Sanchi, India
• This mound-shape design
was taken from earlier but
not limited to South Asian
burial mounds. It was
not, however, used as a
tomb; it housed relics of
Buddha.
• It held the ashes of
Buddha, and Buddhists
can pay homage by
circumambulation.
• Buddha is depicted in his
jatakas (past lives), as
footprints or an empty
chair, but never in human
form.
The Chaitya Hall at Karle, India
This is a good, early
example of a chaitya
hall.
• It is cut out of living
rock
• Dates around 100 CE
• Pillared hall 45’ high,
125’ long (larger than
Ramses II)
• Stupa at one end with
circumabulatories
• Precedent for eroticism
in Indian art
Meditating Buddha from Gandhara
A good example
of Buddha in
human form is this
statue, carved of
gray schist (a local
stone), dating
back to the
second century
CE.
He is seen in monk’s
robes, in crosslegged yogic
posture, hands
upward in dhyana
mudra, the gesture
of meditation.
It shows Hellenism’s
influence on their art.
Society’s perception of Buddha changed drastically during the first
three centuries CE in the two Hellenized cities of the Kushan Empire of
Gandhara and Mathura. Buddha was at first seen as an enlightened
mortal, but was eventually turned into a sort of god.. This is where the
modern misconception of Buddha’s divinity comes from. So, naturally,
images of Buddha himself were in demand so that people could worship
something tangible.
The life and death of the Buddha
Frieze from Gandhara
• Earliest example of narrative of Buddha
• This frieze describes, from the left, Buddha’s
birth by Maya, his enlightenment, his first
Sermon, and his unfortunate death.
Mathura
• Although Mathuran
sculptures of
Buddha were
contemporaneous,
they were different
stylistically.
Seated Buddha
• This picture is the product of
the merging styles of
Gandhara and Mathura during
the second half of the 5th
century.
• It was during the new “gupta”
period, the king was
Chandragupta II and
Pataliputra was the capitol
• The Guptas were great patrons
of art and literature
• Statues like these become so
popular that they were favored
over the stupa as a place for
worship
Buddhist and Hindu Coexistence –
Unlike today!
• Buddhists and Hindus coexisted in India
because unlike monotheism – these ways
of life have many gods and paths for which
to take. They meshed because each had
some of each other’s elements
Vishnu Rescues the Earth
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13’ tall Vishnu as the incarnation
of Varaha, the boar.
He assumed this form when he
rescued the earth from being
carried off to the bottom of the
ocean.
He stands with one foot resting
on the coils of a snake king who
represents the conquered
demon that attempted to abduct
the earth
Rows of gods and sages form
lines to witness the event
It had a political purpose
because it was about the Gupta
King Chandragupta II who was
fabled to have saved his
kingdom and rid it of his
enemies as Vishnu did.
It’s an example of contemporary
events in mythological guise
much like the Greeks.
Dancing Shiva
• It depicts Shiva, the
second major Hindu god,
dancing a cosmic dance.
• A drummer accompanies
the dance while Shiva’s
son Ganesha (elephant)
mimics his father
• Hindu deities are often
represented with multiple
body parts to show that
they are more than
human gods with
supernatural powers
Shiva with Three Faces
• Image of Shiva as
Mahadeva (“Great god,
Lord of Lords”)
• On the right is a face of
the female with framing
curls (Uma – the creative
aspect of Shiva)
• On the left is a grimacing
male (Bhairava – the
destructive side of Shiva)
Vishnu Temple at Deogarh
• One of the first Hindu
temples constructed of
stone blocks
• Has elaborately
decorated door in the
front and a relief in a
niche on each of the
three sides
• Sculpted guardians
protect the doorway
because it is the
transition point between
the dangerous outside
and sacred interior
The Creation of the Universe
• Four-armed Vishnu dreams the
universe into reality
• Surrounding Vishnu are
important divinities such as
Shiva on his bull
• Out of the six figures below the
four at the right are
personifications of Vishnu’s
various powers and they
defeat the two figures on the
left who are armed demons
• Carved in the classic Gupta
style
Shiva as Nataraja
• It is representing the lord of the
dance
• Standing on a dwarf that
represents ignorance
• The flame symbolizes destruction
• The drum is used to create the
universe to its rhythm
• The holes in the base make it
possible to carry
• *When worshipped it would be
dressed.
• It was supposed to be treated as a
human being
• It was not supposed be a symbol
of the god but the god himself
• It was bathed, clothed, fed, taken
on outings and would get gifts like
songs, incense, lights, and
flowers.
• It would eat the essence of the
food and leave the rest for the
worshipper
Southeast
Asia
The Sweet Giant Buddha a.k.a.
Death of the Buddha
It is 46’ long, and was carved out of a rocky
place at Gal Vihara in the eleventh or twelfth
century.
Ananda, Buddha’s cousin and chief disciple, is
the small figure to the left who is mourning the
death.
The style is similar to the Gupta sculptures of
India with the clinging clothes, round faces and
stylized hair
The Borobudur
• It is a Buddhist monument that
is 400’ at the base and 98’ tall.
• Built on a small hill
• The stairways are aligned with
the cardinal points
• There are 500 life size Buddha
images, about 1000 relief
panels and about 1500 stupas.
• It is supposed to be a spiritual
place where worshippers go
through various realms to get
to ultimate enlightenment.
• Each stupa holds a sculpture
of Buddha.
• It was influenced by Indian art,
literature, and religion, but
nothing in India is comparable
to it.
Harihara, Cambodia
• It shows Vishnu as Harihara
• Its divided vertically, with Shiva on
the right and Vishnu on the left
• There were objects in the hands
at one time that helped to
differentiate
• It was to be seen from all sides
and it was unlike almost all Indian
stone sculptures, which were
reliefs, because this is in the
round.
Vishnu Lying on the Cosmic Ocean
• The surviving portion is
about 8’ long, making it
one of the largest bronze
sculptures of ancient or
medieval times
• It originally had jewel and
silver inlays and there
was a separate miter on
his head
• It’s only comparable in
size to the sculpture of
Constantine and Athena
Parthenos
Angkor Wat?
• It was built by
Suryavarman II (Khmer
King)
• It was the largest Khmer
temple complex
• Its purpose was to
associate the king with
his god, who is in this
case Vishnu
• The five towers symbolize
the five peaks of Mt.
Meru, which is the
“sacred center of the
universe”
• There are reliefs that
glorify Vishnu and the king
King Suryavarman II Holding Court
• This is one of the
reliefs at Angkor Wat
• The kneeling people
are smaller because
they are less
important
(HELLOOOO!)
• Religion and politics
are united.
Bayon
• Jayavarman VII, the son of
Suryavarman II, built more
while he was king than all the
Khmer kings combined
• He turned to Buddhism from
Hinduism, which the other
kings liked, but may the
Buddha and bodhisattva
Lokeshavara (“Lord of the
World”) divine prototypes of
the king
• The faces might be of
Lokeshavara or of Jayavarman
VII himself.
Bibliography
• Kleiner and Mamiya. Gardner’s Art
through the Ages. Thomson/Wadsworth.
2005.
• Gach, Gary. Understanding Buddhism.
Alpha. 2004.
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